Nimona by ND Stevenson
In Nimona, Stevenson questioned a lot of things. What are heroes and villains? Can “heroes” be evil and “villains” principled? What is magic when we have science? Is the government trustworthy? Who are real friends?
SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho, read by Emily Woo Zeller
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Because Laura loved the previous version of this book (her review), I couldn’t wait for this rerelease of Spirits Abroad. Just when I was going to preorder it, I found out that the audiobook is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. THE Emily Woo Zeller who narrated Last Night at the Telegraph Club (my review). So I had to listen to the audiobook.
And yes, this short story collection is magnificent.
I don’t know how to review this book because there are 19 stories in it, but I’m going to talk about a few of my favorites and their hidden meanings. If you’re here for a review, I’m sorry to say this “review” would probably be more of an analysis.
EDINBURGH by Alexander Chee, read by Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Somewhere between a 4- and a 5-star.
The central theme of the book is pedophilia. It reminded me of the biographical movie Spotlight in the sense that both instances of church-related child molestation happened on the East Coast around the same time. Edinburgh was published the same year the original The Boston Globe’s “spotlight” team started the investigation (2001), way before the team won a Pulitzer Prize for it (2003). I picked up this book because it’s queer and Asian, and I expected it to be sad and disturbing but I didn’t know it would also be beautiful in both the writing and the perverseness of the characters.
THE MAP TO YOU (Next Stop Love #2) by Rachel Stockbridge
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
3.5 stars.
The Map to You opens with a very long prologue, and then we skip ten months ahead. I believe that time gap is covered in the previous book, Next Stop Love, and while it would be nice to have the context in the first book, it is not necessary to enjoy this second installment.
Varsity soccer player Sasha Deforest (21) likes the grumpy, artsy Kinsey Han (Chinese American) even before they became roommates. Now that they are no longer living together and the third person in their best friend squad Beatrice is not around, Sasha and Kinsey’s friendship quickly turns a bit awkward. But when Kinsey’s mother is hospitalized six hundred miles away, Sasha immediately volunteers to drive Kinsey, never mind all the classes they’re going to miss. Throughout the journey, Kinsey also begins to realize that Sasha is not as happy-go-lucky as she seems to be.
SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN (The Radiant Emperor #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan
The most amazing feat is that I felt like I was reading in Chinese. I especially adore all the cussing (yes), including “turtle egg,” “white-eyed idiot,” “water leaked into brain,” “fuck eighteen generations of that bastard’s dog ancestors,” and other non-vulgar phrases like “blowing up the cow skin” (boasting), “chicken-skin” (goosebumps), “eat tofu” (sexual harassment), etc. The language aspect of the book was wonderful.
She Who Became the Sun is essentially the genderbent story of Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋), the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1662). The main character Zhu (sapphic), stole the identity of her dead brother Zhu Chongba (朱重八, Zhu “Double Eight”) who was promised a great future. She spent her childhood and early teens at a monastery and subsequently joins the Red Turbans, a band of rebels fighting against the ruling Mongols. One of the Mongols’ general is the eunuch Ouyang (achillean). Despite fighting for the Mongols, Ouyang holds a deep hatred again them because they were the reason his family was slaughtered and he castrated. The complicated relationship between Zhu and Ouyang continues to play out through the story.